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Liz Monteiro can be reached via Twitter@MonteiroRecord
Email: lmonteiro@therecord.com FacebookTwitterhttps://www.therecord.com/news-story/8298413-uw-student-dies-by-suicide-at-student-residence/
WATERLOO — A University of Waterloo student died by suicide Monday when he jumped from a 12th floor student residence building.
Staff Sgt. Jim Strand of Waterloo Regional Police said officers were called to Claudette Millar Hall at 165 University Ave. at about 5 a.m. after a student called UW security.
The body of the 22-year-old Scarborough resident was found on the ground and security called police, Strand said.
Strand said police are still trying to contact next of kin in the Toronto area.
Strand said the student's death is not suspicious and no foul play is associated with the death.
"Our university community is saddened by the loss of one of our students who died on campus earlier today," the university said Monday.
The student was in fourth year, said university spokesperson Matthew Grant.
It's the first suicide on campus at UW in 2018, Grant said.
Grant said students requiring support can contact counselling services at 519-575-6560, ext. 32655 or the 24/7 post-secondary student helpline, Good2Talk, at 1-866-925-5454.
Two UW students died by suicide in a two-month period last year.
It prompted UW president Feridun Hamdullahpur to create an advisory committee on mental health.
The committee sought input from students, staff, faculty and the community on how to assist students in getting the help they need.
The report was slated for completion last fall but was delayed.
Grant said the report is now completed and recommendations will be shared with the university community within two weeks.
Last March, first-year student Chase Christopher Graham, 19, died by suicide at a student residence.
Graham's father, Mark, said his son, a math whiz, was an International Baccalaureate student with top honours in high school, graduating with a 99 per cent average. He was looking forward to studying computer science at UW.
Mark Graham said his son didn't have any known mental health issues, but was daunted about leaving his Kingston home to attend school and "feeling alone in a strange, unwelcoming environment."
Two months before Graham's suicide death, an 18-year-old female UW student took her own life in a student residence.
The two deaths prompted students to organize a vigil on campus and one student garnered 15,000 signatures on a petition asking the university to foster student mental health on campus.
At the University of Guelph, four students died from suicide during the 2016/2017 academic year.
It's the highest number of suicides the school had ever had in a single academic year.
At UW, there have been about 10 deaths by suicide of university students since 2012.
lmonteiro@therecord.com , Twitter: @MonteiroRecord
Waterloo Regional Police said officers were called to Claudette Millar Hall at 165 University Ave. at about 5 a.m. after a student called UW security.